Anathema (band)
progressive rock, gothic metal (early), death/doom (early)Baddeley 2002, pp. 265–6 | years_active = 1990–present | label = Peaceville, Music for Nations, Kscope | associated_acts = Cradle of Filth Antimatter Porcupine Tree Steven Wilson HIM Anneke van Giersbergen | alias = Pagan Angel (1990) | website = | current_members = Vincent Cavanagh Daniel Cavanagh Jamie Cavanagh John Douglas Lee Douglas Daniel Cardoso | past_members = Darren White Duncan Patterson Shaun Steels Martin Powell Dave Pybus Les Smith }} Anathema are a British rock band from Liverpool. The line-up consists of singers and guitarists Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh, their brother Jamie Cavanagh at bass, siblings John and Lee Douglas, respectively drummer and singer, and keyboardist Daniel Cardoso since November 2012. The band was founded as Pagan Angel in 1990 by the three Cavanagh siblings, John, and singer Darren White, as a death/doom band. At the time White was the only singer of the band. The following year, Jamie left and was replaced by Duncan Patterson. Under this line-up, Anathema released their first EP, The Crestfallen (1992), and their first album, Serenades (1993). However, White left in 1995; Vincent decided to act as Anathema's vocalist in addition to his guitarist function in the albums The Silent Enigma (1995) and Eternity (1996), which were going into a more gothic metal direction. In 1997, John left the band, and was replaced by Shaun Steels for the album Alternative 4 (1998). Both Patterson and Steels left the same year, replaced by Dave Pybus and a returning John Douglas, while former My Dying Bride keyboardist and violinist Martin Powell also joined the band (Daniel Cavanagh was also acting as the band's only keyboardist, and shared this position since). The only album released with this line-up was Judgement (1999): the same year Powell switched positions with Cradle of Filth's keyboardist Les Smith who joined Anathema, and Lee Douglas, John's sister, was added to the line-up as a backing and occasional lead vocalist. The band released their sixth album A Fine Day to Exit in 2001, turning to an alternative sound. Shortly after the release, Pybus announced his departure and was replaced by the band's original bassist, Jamie Cavanagh, reuniting the three brothers in the band for the first time since 1991. There were no new members for the next ten years, with the albums A Natural Disaster (2003) and We're Here Because We're Here (2010) all being recorded and released by the same line-up, with the sound turning even more towards progressive rock; however, Daniel Cavanagh left Anathema in 2002 to join Antimatter, returning in 2003. Smith left Anathema in 2011, and Vincent and Daniel both assumed the function of keyboardist for the band's ninth album, Weather Systems, in 2012. The same year, Cardoso, the band's live keyboardist since 2011, joined as a full-time member. The band's tenth studio album called Distant Satellites was released on 9 June 2014 via Kscope. History Early years Anathema formed in 1990 as a doom metal band, initially going by the name Pagan Angel.Larkin, Colin (1999), The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock. p. 27. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0257-7. In November of that year, the band recorded their first demo, entitled An Iliad of Woes. This demo caught the attention of several bands and labels from the English metal scene. At the beginning of 1991, the band gained a lot of attention with the release of their second demo entitled All Faith Is Lost, resulting in a four-album deal with Peaceville Records. Their first release under the label was The Crestfallen EP in November 1992. They took the material from that album on the road, touring with Cannibal Corpse. Serenades, Anathema's debut LP, attracted a lot of mainstream attention, propelling their "Sweet Tears" music video onto the MTV playlist. Anathema's first European tour was in 1994, and was closely followed by gigs at the Independent Rock Festival in Brazil. In May 1995, vocalist Darren White parted with the band, eventually forming The Blood Divine. Rather than recruiting a new vocalist, the band decided that guitarist Vincent Cavanagh should assume White's role.Strong, Martin C. (2001). The Great Metal Discography. pp. 25–6. MOJO Books. ISBN 1-84195-185-4. This new formation debuted by touring with Cathedral in the United Kingdom, and released The Silent Enigma soon after to rave reviews. It also showed the band starting to take a direction akin to Gothic metal. Mid 90's The release of Eternity came in 1996, relying more on atmospheric sounds, and starting the transition to clean vocals; the album Judgement would later consolidate this style. A European tour followed the album's release. in 2005.]] The next member to leave the band was drummer John Douglas, who departed in the summer of 1997. He was replaced by Shaun Steels, formerly of Solstice, who would also later play drums for My Dying Bride. Alternative 4 was released in 1998. During this time the band underwent many line-up changes. Bassist/songwriter Duncan Patterson quit due to musical differences and was replaced by Dave Pybus of Dreambreed, a band which Duncan had played bass for during a short period, and not long after this Martin Powell (who had played keyboards and violin for My Dying Bride previously) joined the band for live performances. Finally, founding drummer John Douglas returned to the drums in place of Steels. In June 1999, the album Judgement was released, marking Anathema's complete shift from the doom metal genre, focusing instead on slower and more experimental songs. This new sound has been likened to artists such as Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley, and to a lesser extent, Radiohead. However, the essence of the band remained the same . Their songs continued to express a feeling of depression and, more often than not, desperation. The next year Martin Powell switched positions with Cradle of Filth's keyboardist Les Smith, who came to be an integral member of Anathema. Alternative sound Shortly before the release of A Fine Day to Exit, Dave Pybus announced his departure from the band and later joined Cradle of Filth. He was replaced by touring bassist George Roberts, and later by Jamie Cavanagh. In March 2002, Daniel Cavanagh announced his departure from the band, joining Duncan Patterson's band Antimatter. However, he later rejoined Anathema in 2003 for the release of A Natural Disaster, and started their European tour. This accelerated the changes in Anathema's tone, towards the atmospheric and progressive, as exhibited in album tracks "Flying" and "Violence". Upon the closing of their label Music for Nations after its purchase by Sony BMG, Anathema found itself without a record label, despite having completed an extensive tour of the UK with popular Finnish rock band HIM in April 2006. During their search for a new label, the band have adopted a more 'DIY' approach to music release, embracing the internet and releasing songs via their own website, for which fans may donate a monetary sum of their own choice. Despite the obvious lack of label-based tour support, the band continues to play dates across Europe, guitarist Danny Cavanagh also playing the odd low-key acoustic concert. Progressive stream On 20 March 2010, Anathema announced on their website and Facebook page the release date of their next album. We're Here Because We're Here was released on 31 May 2010 on the Kscope label. John Douglas' sister Lee Douglas joined the band in the capacity of a vocalist during the recording of this album. She had previously performed on the two previous albums as a guest vocalist. On 6 July 2011, it was announced on the band's official page that their album of re-interpretations, Falling Deeper, would be released on 5 September 2011. The album was a follow-up to Hindsight and contained new orchestral versions of songs from the past, as well as a version of "Everwake" featuring the vocals of Anneke van Giersbergen. On 12 September 2011, Les Smith's departure due to "creative and musical differences" was announced on the band's website. On 16 April 2012, the band's ninth studio album, Weather Systems, was released via Kscope. The album entered the UK album charts at No. 50 and the German album charts at No. 19. On 8 November 2012, Daniel Cavanagh announced on Anathema's official website that Daniel Cardoso was joining in a full-time permanent basis, as a key element of the band. On 2 December 2012, Anathema announced their first concert in India. Anathema has performed at IIT Madras as part of the Saarang Rock Show on 12 January 2013. The band's recent live album, named Universal, was released as a double vinyl album on 24 June 2013. The album is a recording of a special one-off gig at the ancient Roman theatre of Philippopolis in 2012, where the band were joined by the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra. The set was released on Blu-ray, DVD and CD under the name Universal, with an alternate track order, on 17 September 2013. The band performed on drummer Mike Portnoy's Progression Nation at Sea tour aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Pearl that sailed from the Port of Miami on 18 February 2014. Daniel Cardoso, initially keyboardist, has assumed the role of drummer taking over from John Douglas who now plays percussion and keyboards.Interview with Vincent On 28 March 2014, the band announced their upcoming studio album would be called Distant Satellites. The album came out on 9 June 2014 on the Kscope label, and was produced by Christer-André Cederberg in Oslo, Norway. Several tracks were mixed by Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree). Different from previous albums is the use of more electronica on this album. The album was released in four different versions: CD, vinyl, Media Book, and a Deluxe version.Omerch shop The band toured the album starting 22 May in Istanbul, Turkey, continuing throughout Europe and travelling to Australia for the first time to perform three dates during August 2014. Following the success of their short Australian tour, an acoustic tour was announced for New Zealand and Australia in 2015. Danny, Vincent and Lee performed these show without the other band members. Members ;Current members * Vincent Cavanagh – rhythm and acoustic guitars, keyboards, programming, lead vocals (1990–present) * Daniel Cavanagh – lead guitar, keyboards, piano (1990–2002, 2003–present), lead and backing vocals (2003–present) * Jamie Cavanagh – bass (1990–1991, 2001–present) * John Douglas – drums, percussion, keyboards (1990–1997, 1998–present) * Lee Douglas – backing vocals (1999–present), lead vocals (2003–present) * Daniel Cardoso – keyboards, drums (2012–present; touring musician: 2011–2012) ;Former members * Darren White – vocals (1990–1995) * Duncan Patterson – bass, keyboards (1991–1998) * Shaun Steels – drums (1997–1998) * Dave Pybus – bass (1998–2001) * Les Smith – keyboards (2000–2011) ;Touring musicians * Martin Powell – keyboards, violin (1998–2000) * George Roberts – bass (2001) Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:100 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:1990 till:06/09/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1990 ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:1991 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitars value:green legend:Guitars id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:violin value:claret legend:Violin id:touringmember value:yellow legend: Touring Member id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_Albums id:other value:gray(0.5) legend:Other_Releases LineData = at:11/25/1990 color:other layer:back at:05/20/1991 color:other layer:back at:01/01/1992 color:other layer:back at:02/11/1993 color:black layer:back at:03/06/1995 color:other layer:back at:10/23/1995 color:black layer:back at:11/11/1996 color:black layer:back at:06/01/1997 color:other layer:back at:05/22/1998 color:black layer:back at:06/17/1998 color:other layer:back at:06/21/1999 color:black layer:back at:07/24/2001 color:other layer:back at:06/09/2001 color:black layer:back at:04/30/2002 color:other layer:back at:11/03/2003 color:black layer:back at:11/15/2004 color:other layer:back at:06/19/2004 color:other layer:back at:08/11/2008 color:other layer:back at:05/31/2010 color:black layer:back at:09/05/2011 color:other layer:back at:04/16/2012 color:black layer:back at:07/15/2013 color:other layer:back at:09/23/2013 color:other layer:back at:06/09/2014 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Darren text: "Darren White" bar:Lee text: "Lee Douglas" bar:Vincent text: "Vincent Cavanagh" bar:Danny text: "Daniel Cavanagh" bar:Jamie text: "Jamie Cavanagh" bar:Duncan text: "Duncan Patterson" bar:Dave text: "Dave Pybus" bar:George text: "George Roberts" bar:Martin text: "Martin Powell" bar:Les text: "Les Smith" bar:Daniel text: "Daniel Cardoso" bar:John text: "John Douglas" bar:Shaun text: "Shaun Steels" PlotData= width:2.5 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Danny from:04/01/2003 till:end color:vocals width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Darren from:01/01/1990 till:05/01/1995 color:vocals bar:Lee from:01/05/2001 till:end color:vocals bar:Vincent from:01/01/1990 till:end color:guitars bar:Vincent from:05/01/1995 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Danny from:01/01/1990 till:03/01/2002 color:guitars width:10 bar:Danny from:01/06/1995 till:03/01/2002 color:keyboards width:3 bar:Danny from:04/01/2003 till:end color:keyboards width:6.5 bar:Danny from:04/01/2003 till:end color:guitars bar:Jamie from:01/01/1990 till:10/01/1991 color:bass bar:Duncan from:09/01/1991 till:08/17/1998 color:bass bar:Dave from:08/01/1998 till:09/15/2001 color:bass bar:Martin from:09/01/1998 till:03/01/2000 color:violin width:2.5 bar:Martin from:09/01/1998 till:03/01/2000 color: touringmember width:6.5 bar:Martin from:09/01/1998 till:03/01/2000 color:keyboards bar:George from:09/15/2001 till:12/01/2001 color:bass bar:George from:09/15/2001 till:12/01/2001 color:touringmember width:3 bar:Jamie from:12/01/2001 till:end color:bass bar:Les from:04/01/2000 till:08/13/2011 color:keyboards bar:Daniel from:08/13/2011 till:11/08/2012 color:keyboards bar:Daniel from:08/13/2011 till:11/08/2012 color:touringmember width:3 bar:Daniel from:11/08/2012 till:end color:keyboards bar:Daniel from:01/01/2014 till:end color:drums width:4 bar:John from:01/01/1990 till:06/01/1997 color:drums bar:Shaun from:10/01/1997 till:08/01/1998 color:drums bar:John from:08/01/1998 till:end color:drums bar:John from:01/01/2014 till:end color:keyboards width:4 Discography ;Studio albums * Serenades (1993) * The Silent Enigma (1995) * Eternity (1996) * Alternative 4 (1998) * Judgement (1999) * A Fine Day to Exit (2001) * A Natural Disaster (2003) * We're Here Because We're Here (2010) * Weather Systems (2012) * Distant Satellites (2014) References External links * Anathema official website * Official Facebook page * Kscope music * Reviews and interviews at Chronicles of Chaos * Category:English heavy metal musical groups Category:English death metal musical groups Category:English doom metal musical groups Category:English gothic metal musical groups Category:English alternative rock groups Category:English progressive rock groups Category:English rock music groups Category:Musical groups from Liverpool Category:Musical groups established in 1990 Category:Musical sextets Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines